Staying grounded the key to success
Siblings won’t be ‘put ... on a pedestal’
DETROIT — While her four-medal performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics made Penny Oleksiak a household name across Canada, within her own household perhaps no one understood the road to her accomplishments more succinctly than her older brother Jamie.
A defenceman for the NHL’s Dallas Stars, the elder Oleksiak knows well the level of commitment required to become an elite world-class athlete.
“I understand the kind of sacrifice she’s gone through,” Jamie said earlier this week when the Stars were at Joe Louis Arena to play the Detroit Red Wings. “Just being a competitive athlete like that, it takes a lot of dedication, a lot of discipline.”
Jamie was in Rio to see his sister’s record-setting performance as she etched her name into Canadian Olympic history.
Penny, who will be in Windsor, Ont., for the FINA short-course world championships from Dec. 6-11 at WFCU Centre, was the first Canadian athlete to capture four medals at one Summer Games. The four medals tied Penny with Victor Davis as the most decorated Canadian swimmer in Olympic history.
She set an Olympic standard of 52.70 seconds in tying for the gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle, making her the first Canadian Olympic champion in swimming since the 1992 Barcelona Games and the first female swimmer to do so since Los Angeles in 1984.
At 16, Penny was the youngest Canadian Olympic gold medallist. She was also part of Canada’s bronze-medal win on the 4X100and 4x200-metre relay teams and also won a silver medal in the 100-metre butterfly.
It could all add up to some pretty heady stuff for a 16-year-old, but Jamie, 23, indicated the family has treated Penny’s success with the same level-headed approach they’ve taken to his arrival in the NHL.
“We’re always wishing each other well and we’re trying to support each other as much as possible, but we don’t put either of us on a pedestal,” Jamie explained.
It’s why Penny snuck away from Rio to go to Canada’s Wonderland with some of her friends before returning to serve as Canadian flag-bearer in the closing ceremonies and why it was important she began classes with all the other students in the fall at Toronto’s Monarch Park Collegiate Institute. It’s all about staying grounded for the Oleksiaks.
“She’s definitely got a good head on her shoulders,” Jamie said. “I think she’s got the work ethic to do well. I think being so young and having that amount of determination, it’s just unbelievable. That’s something I try to bring to the rink. That’s definitely what pulled her up to that next level.
“She’s just got a really good attitude. The big thing is she just loves what she does and she makes sure she always has a passion for it and she’s been able to make herself good at it, too.”